Duo Maxwell
'"Anyone who sees me has got a date with his maker." He's called the "God Of Death", and it's a name well-earned. Duo Maxwell is an expert at sneak attacks of all types; from ambushes to infiltrations, the self-titled Shinigami is a master of them all. His Gundam, the terrifying XXXG-01D Deathscythe, reinforces and supports this ability, built to improve stealth attacks nearly a hundredfold over standard Mobile Suits. But those who have met Duo claim that this is an ill-fitting mask to his personality; a bright, cheery, and eager young man, Duo never misses a chance to crack a joke or flirt with a pretty girl. Still, people wonder...is it the God of Death that is the ill-fitting mask? Or is it Duo Maxwell himself? Background Information Born February 2nd, NCA-103 on Colony L2-V08744, one of the worst colonies ever built. The God Of Death has humble beginnings. Though some might believe that Duo Maxwell is some sort of supersoldier, someone trained from birth for the express purpose of piloting the XXXG-01D Deathscythe, nothing could be further from the truth; the fearsome Reaper, terror of soldiers all across the Earthsphere, is nothing more than an orphan who was brought into the cockpit by unbelievable circumstance. Nameless and alone on the streets of Colony V-08744, the earliest years of Duo's life were cold, full of hard work and no reward, of picking pockets and scrounging for food, of situations out of a Charles Dickens novel. He had no name in those black days; he was 'hey you,' 'come back here,' 'kid'. That loneliness would start to wear away when Duo joined up with a gang of street urchins led by a young man named Solo; though the thieving, the scrounging, didn't change, at least he was no longer alone. If it could be considered a childhood at all, it was enough for the young man; better to be many hungry thieves than one lonely one. When Solo died, the darkness fell again. With the gang about to break apart, Duo took the stage; the fever that consumed Solo seemed to have been passed on to his heart, filling him with a passionate firet; in Solo's memory, he named himself Duo, reasoning that Solo would always be with them if he was remembered. For a time, Duo was able to hold the gang together, but the days weren't as full of laughter at the top; people feared him, despite his cheery demeanor, for it hid the darkness of those early days, the darkness of watching people die, of the cold streets and the children starving around him. He was warm, but distant; just close enough to be there, but too far to be really known. The mask was just loose enough to make it seem nonexistant... The gang was taken in by the Maxwell Church, and systematically broken up anyway. Passed to foster parents, it seemed as if the dark times were finally over; as if someone would be there to love and support the orphaned children. And indeed, those dark times were lifted...but not for Duo. That mask that teetered across his face, the thin veneer of dishonest happiness, put off the foster parents; they sent him back to the orphanage, alone. But that suited Duo; hadn't he been alone in the streets before? And wouldn't he be alone again? In the end, people don't live together - they die alone. But the problem with wearing a mask is that people are always intent to pull it off and see the real person below. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen, the Maxwell Church's owners, did just that; Maxwell forced Duo to contemplate the nature of God even as Sister Helen showed him the kindness of a mother's love, even a foster mother's. Giving him perspective, a home, and a family - a real one - for the first time, Duo allowed the mask to slip and fall...or rather, the mask replaced, suppressed, hid, and dominated the darkness. Who needs to pretend they're happy when they really are happy? The happiness would be cut down the next year, sliced apart by the cruelty of God. A group of anti-Eartsphere rebels revolted, occupying the church as a fortification and holding the priests hostage. Once again, Duo was forced to turn to crime; a promise was cast to prtect those he loved, and he set out into the city to steal a mobile suit. He learned on the fly; how to sneak past the guards, how to enter the cockpit, how to activate the weapon, and how to get out of the area without killing everyone. His promise fulfilled, the mobile suit streaked through the artificial sky in a race against time. Could he save them? Could he arrive fast enough? The clock ticked down... ...and reached the buzzer. The church was burning. The mobile suit crashed, falling to one knee as Duo scrambled forth from his iron coffin. Was he in time? His dreams of happiness, could they be saved? The sad answer was no. Father Maxwell was dead before he even reached the church; shot through the chest by a heavy rifle. Duo sifted through the wreckage, the burning world that once had been his home, in vain. The tears of his mother fell upon ash between his fingers as Sister Helen died in his arms. And Duo's tears burned away as the heat that could no longer reach him, as the fire that burned across his skin grew cold as ice, and the darkness pushed itself to the fore once more. Duo took up the surname Maxwell as a result of the Maxwel Church Tragedy - the clinical, detached name the world had applied to his burning happiness - and got as far away from the colony as he possibly could; space itself. His loneliness, as always, compelled him to seek out other cast-offs of society; he stowed away upon a Sweeper ship departing the colonies, in the vain hope that he'd be able to get away before they discovered him. But such was not the case; Professor G and the rest of the Sweepers discovered Duo. Professor G kindly decided to let the boy off at the next colony, but Duo would have none of it. "Let me...let me join you!" He begged. He had nowhere to go. He had no one to care. He had no purpose in life. If these Sweepers could give it to him, no matter what it was, he would do it. And Professor G saw use in him. The old man agreed, on one condition - that Duo would pilot the Gundam he had designed. Duo agreed - a chance to not only take vengeance on the Earthsphere Federation, but to give himself...a life. It would be a life of war, of pain, of destruction, but it was a life nonetheless. Somewhat flippantly, Duo decided to call himself 'Shinigami'; those around him suspected that it was due to his Gundam's reaperlike appearance, but the truth would be known only to Duo. He had watched so many die...watched so many fall away, that he couldn't believe in God. But if he believed in the God of Death, if he made himself the God of Death...he could believe in that, at least. And moreover, secretly, that little dark part of Duo that had festered since childhood blamed Duo himself for the people who died around him. As much a curse as a blessing, the God of Death was born. This would continue for some time, until the beginnings of Operation Meteor. Disagreeing with the brutal methods proposed in the plan, Duo sought to cut it off at the head by destroying his beloved Gundam, but Professor G had his own plans. The old man sought a different means of vengeance against the Earthsphere than the rampant destruction of Meteor; with expert words, he pushed Duo to steal the Gundam and disappear. And Duo, swayed by the old man, did just that. The Gundam fell to Earth, with Duo inside. Duo's battles continued against the Earthsphere Federation. Enrolling at Jindai High School as part of his cover, Duo struck out against military target after military target, each time disappearing before his face could be seen. But a chance encounter with Sanger Zonvolt left the young man defeated and in need of aid, and it was Garrod Ran who reached out. Moving from Earth to the Freedan, Duo found himself a home on board the ship, a home remarkably close to that of the old days. With the Deathscythe in his hands and good people at his back, Duo joined Katharon to aid against the A-LAWS war. Only time will tell where his path leads... Personality Traits Quiet, contemplative, and focused... ...are not words that apply to Duo Maxwell. One could call him many things, but patient simply isn't one of them. Rambunctious, hyperactive, and relentlessly cheery - as if he were running away from some deep, dark terror - is the public face of Duo Maxwell, the so-called God of Death. Friendly to an absolute fault and willing to give almost anyone a chance, Duo prides himself on this public face; Everybody's Best Friend Duo is always there to crack a joke or flirt with a pretty girl. He's charming; he's funny; he's laid-back. Considering a boy like this a terrorist is almost inconceivable to those who've talked to Duo for any length of time; how could someone more interested in dropping a whoopie cushion on the teacher's chair be the same person behind the controls of the Deathscythe? How could such a chipper kid be a killer? Those people rarely think about the obvious answer. The real Duo - the Duo who lies underneath that mask - is known only to Duo himself, and perhaps the enigmatic Professor G. Dark, depressing, and full of shadows deeper than those that surround his Gundam, Duo hides himself - his true self - and his feelings behind the meaningless banter. The lonely assassin fools everyone around him; his laughter shakes off the sorrows of the world like a dog shakes off the water it has been bathed in. And frankly, this suits Duo Maxwell just fine. What Duo himself hasn't even realized is the depth that laughter covers. In Duo's mind, its only purpose is to hide him from the world, but in truth, like all masks, there is a second side. And that second side, the side that Duo cannot see because it is plastered to his very face, is that he needs people. No matter how much Duo wishes to push others away, to shrug off the pain that comes of having friends and watching them die, Duo wants to be around people. The so-called lonely assassin's mask allows him to feel like part of a crowd, like he has friends. Even holding these friends at arm's length is better to Duo than not having them at all, though he has yet to realize that. Ultimately, it's impossible to tell where the mask of laughter ends and Duo Maxwell begins. He hides his black childhood, his self-seclusion, with the laughter that has become second nature to him; the likeable young man has become the Duo Maxwell that the world knows, and at that point, can anyone say it's not the truth? Only Duo himself...and perhaps, whoever can get close enough to him to find out. Duo's dreams - if they still exist - are nightmares of a burning church, of the corpse of a priest, and of his adopted mother dying in his arms. His goal is survival and vengeance; vengeance against the Earthsphere for their actions during the church, for their activities related to A-LAWS in what he sees as a repeat of that brutal incident that occured so many years ago. But Duo, unlike so many who seek vengeance, does not hate his targets; it's perhaps shocking to those who learn this, but Duo has no personal feelings towards the A-LAWS and OZ beyond dislike and regret. Certainly nothing worth killing over. It is because to Duo, the Gundam is his purpose. His only goal is to be useful to Professor G and the other Gundam pilots; his only desire is to have a place in this world. For that reason and that reason alone does he fight his lonely assassin's war; for that reason, he is able to be a compassionate assassin, able to kill only those who he must instead of overreacting or overextending as some are so willing to do. Duo's random nature conceals that surprising self-control and compassion; Duo reaches out, subconsciously, through the God of Death's scythe, and has managed to find some measure of peace in his heartless mission. Talents & Abilities Duo Maxwell is an expert pilot when it comes to the piloting of his best friend, the Gundam Deathscythe. He is not really aggressive, although when he is fighting an enemy, he can be extreme in his fighting style, wanting to get the job done quickly. He is not really a defensive fighter, unless he has to be, since he is more offensive, and is able to get into places others are not able to. He has a lot of spirit, often talking to his Gundam and treating him like a best friend and companion. Duo likes to be up close and personal a majority of the time; however, he will fight form range if he absolutely has to. Duo specializes in just one mobile suit, that is the XXXG-01D Gundam Deathscythe, and he can pilot his buddy with his eyes close. Especially since he has been training and piloting with Deathscythe, since NCA-115 when he found Professor G, the Sweeper Group and Deathscythe. Some resources that Duo has access to, would be the Sweepers, a neutral organization is dedicated to salvage the remains of battles or the debris from space. They are affiliated with none of the major powers in the Earth sphere and thus don’t take part in battles. Known members of this group are Gundam pilot Duo Maxwell and Howard, who operates in space from his giant ship Peacemillion. Due to being an orphan and a member of the Sweepers, Duo is an expert salvager and a extremely good thief. The salvaging skills come from his thieving abilities, which he learn while growing up on Colony L2-V08744 as an orphan. Additionally, he is able to hack into computer systems and sneak into bases, since he was able to sneak into Professor G’s ship without setting off any of the security systems, which is how he became the pilot of Deathscythe Logs |ordermethod = title |notcategory = cutscenes |suppresserrors = yes }} Category: Trailers Category: New Mobile Report Gundam Wing Category: Jindai High Students Category:Katharon